Half Life 2 – Even though I had to wait for the Xbox port, it was more than worth it. Signed off that console with a bang.
Project Gotham Racing 3 & Condemned
2006
Gears of War – The game that made me finally get Xbox Live and never failed to entertain.
Oblivion & Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter.
2007
Call of Duty 4 – “Tango down in sector one alpha” still causes a Pavlovian reaction.
Halo 3 & Portal
2008
Dead Space – Made me feel like a kid playing Resident Evil again, in all the right ways.
Prince Of Persia & Grand Theft Auto 4
2009
Uncharted 2 – The best summer blockbuster of the year. Also has the best grenade related wise-cracks in gaming.
Forza Motorsport 3 & Modern Warfare 2
2010
Mass Effect 2 – While the first game was impressive, this one blew my socks clean off. A phenomenal cast of characters, spectacle and mechanics.
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit & Red Dead Redemption
2011
Saints Row The Third – I didn’t give two hoots about the Saints Row games until this silly, ridiculous gem.
Bastion & Rayman Origins
2012
The Walking Dead – Proves that not only can episodic gaming work, but it can produce something that continually leaves you aghast.
X-Com Enemy Unknown & Mass Effect 3 (The ending’s utter pants, but the rest is solid gold for me)
2013
The Last Of Us – For me, the single best piece of continual storytelling I’ve ever seen in a game. Naughty Dog’s masterpiece.
Bioshock Infinite & Grand Theft Auto 5
My only retroactive change would be to give the 2011 crown to Dark Souls, a game I only really embraced fully last year, but stands as one of the best of the generation.
Log in to comment